Thursday, September 18, 2014

HONEY FROM HEAVEN

We must learn to accept every word from Him as honey from heaven. You can measure any believer’s love for his Lord by how much he respects every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. A preacher once said, “I can’t serve a God of wrath! I will preach nothing but encouragement—no reproof. God is love! Enough of all those lamentations and woes!” This man knows nothing of God’s honey.

The Lord instructed Ezekiel: “Son of man, stand upon thy feet, and I will speak unto thee. . . . I send thee to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that hath rebelled against me: they and their fathers have transgressed against me, even unto this very day. For they are impudent children and stiffhearted. . . . But thou, son of man, hear what I say unto thee; Be not thou rebellious like that rebellious house: open thy mouth, and eat that I give thee. And when I looked, behold, an hand was sent unto me; and, lo, a roll of a book was therein; and he spread it before me; and it was written within and without: and there was written therein lamentations, and mourning, and woe” (Ezekiel 2:1, 3-4, 8-10).

God’s woes were honey to the prophets. “Be not thou rebellious.” How could Ezekiel be rebellious? By not preaching the truth about judgment that God had given him. “An hand was sent unto me.” This was the hand of God! God’s hand held out a scroll, inscribed on both sides with “lamentations, and mourning, and woe”—all written by the finger of God. What was Ezekiel to do with these very hard words of God? He was told to eat them! To satisfy his belly with them! “Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, eat that thou findest; eat this roll, and go speak unto the house of Israel. So I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat that roll. And he said unto me, Son of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy bowels with this roll that I give thee. Then did I eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness” (Ezekiel 3:1-3).

This was food from heaven, manna dipped in honey! “Fill thy bowels with this roll that I give thee.” Bowels represent the heart and “eat it” means to take it to heart, heed it! “Then did I eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness.”

Jeremiah said that all the prophets of old warned of judgment and woe. “The prophets that have been before me and before thee of old prophesied both against many countries, and against great kingdoms, of war, and of evil, and of pestilence” (Jeremiah 28:8). All the prophets lived by every word out of God’s mouth—the sad word, as well as the glad word. They took it all in as honey!